The average amount of municipal waste generated per person in the European Union (EU) in 2017 is estimated to amount to 486 kg, according to the latest figures published by the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat).
This average figure for the whole EU is unchanged from 2016 and is 7% below the peak of 525 kg per person recorded in the year 2002.
According to the definition used by the European institutions, municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of municipal authorities and disposed of through waste management systems. Municipal waste consists mainly of waste generated by households, although it also includes similar waste from sources such as shops, offices and public institutions.
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The main generators
Eurostat remarks that the EU Member States which generated the most municipal waste per person in 2017 were Denmark (781 kg per person), followed by Cyprus (estimated at 637 kg per person) and Germany (estimated at 633 kg per person).
Finland ranks on the tenth place of the list. According to Eurostat, Finns produce on average 510 kilos of municipal waste per capita, well above the EU's average.
At the other end of the scale, three Member States generated less than 350 kg of municipal waste per person in 2017: Romania (272 kg per person), Poland (315 kg per person) and Czechia (344 kg per person).
